THE LOVELIEST THING ON EARTH 295

I should like to produce the play again now that I am
older and can better understand the subtleties of the part,
the poetry, the beauty and the power of fascination of
Dionysus All through the production Gilbert Murray
lent me his aid I must sustain the note of steadiness
and danger "Keep the God behind the child," convey
the double meaning of this divine Being who takes on
"the form of the things that die, and walks as a man "

Mr Poel got very nervous over the production, for it
was a new adventure for him To produce the effect of
time standing still is essential, ominous, since in that time
is wrought the destruction of Pentheus whom Dionysus
compels to speak the thoughts that he puts into him

My first attempt to put Greek drama on the stage was
well received A well-known critic summed up his
impressions thus "The play is nevertheless among those
that send one away moved and exalted Its poetry,
its high grandeur, its air of dealing through symbols
with ultimate things, the whole mood of it, preserved
in a perfect translation and not missed by the players,
stir the spirit as it is seldom stirred in our theatre "

Four years passed before another opportunity came
In January 1912, Sir John Martin Harvey asked me
to play "Jocasta" with him in "(Edipus Rex," at the
Covent Garden Theatre Max Reinhardt was to
produce the play and Gilbert Murray's translation
was to be used Needless to say, Reinhardt's fame as
a producer gave an added eagerness to my acceptance
The cast was CEdipus, Martin Harvey, Green, Louis
Calvert, Jocasta, Lillah We rehearsed the scene in
the foyer of Covent Garden whilst the stage and audit-
orium were used for rehearsing the crowd and chorus
Jocasta inspires an actress, strong, dignified, no suppliant,
great in authority, great in poise, but greatest m
kindness and humanity, "to live as life may run, 3^>
fear no fret were wisest near the sun" Mother-to^
is the heart of Jocasta's character, and the P^
of the tragedy the stroke of fate that makes her
of her own son, a fate which, when she comes